Cleverly gained’t be punished for date-rape drug joke as PM says matter ‘closed’
Rishi Sunak considers the row over James Cleverly joking about giving his spouse a date-rape drug “closed”.
The Home Secretary has been dealing with calls to resign after the Mirror revealed he joked at a Downing Street reception about spiking his spouse’s drink with a date-rape drug.
He advised feminine friends that “a little bit of Rohypnol in her drink every night” was “not really illegal if it’s only a little bit”. His sick remarks got here simply hours after his Home Office introduced plans to crack down on spiking.
The PM’s deputy spokeswoman mentioned: “It was right that the Home Secretary apologised for what I understood to be comments made during a private conversation. The Prime Minister considers the matter closed and he and the Home Secretary are focused on the action that the Government is taking to tackle spiking and protect women and girls.”
She mentioned she was not conscious of Mr Sunak and Mr Cleverly having spoken in regards to the incident. Asked if the PM was frightened in regards to the message Mr Cleverly’s feedback may ship to victims of spiking, she mentioned: “The Prime Minister and Home Secretary are both focused on the action that the Government is taking. That’s why we made sure that the existing laws recognise the threat that spiking poses to women and girls.
“That’s why we set out additionally a raft of measures to supply speedy help to victims alongside necessary coaching for doormen, investing in analysis for fast testing kits, all introduced by the Home Office of their package deal simply final week, so our focus is on ensuring that we’re taking the motion required to guard girls and ladies.”
Women’s rights campaigners have demanded that Mr Cleverly resign as Home Secretary. The Fawcett Society said the Tory Cabinet minister could not be trusted to “critically deal with violence in opposition to girls and ladies”
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